Finding a therapist is about more than finding someone who works with the concerns you are experiencing. It is also about finding someone whose way of thinking, listening, and relating feels like a good fit.
At Holistic Psychotherapy NYC, we are excited to introduce Sarah Sirulnick, LMSW, a psychodynamic and relational therapist who works with adults, college students, and young adults navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship patterns, family dynamics, identity, and major life transitions.
Sarah offers in-person therapy in Midtown Manhattan and virtual therapy throughout New York State. Her work is grounded in curiosity, connection, and the belief that understanding where our patterns come from can help us relate to ourselves and others differently.
When You Know Something Is Not Working, But You Are Not Sure Why
Sometimes people begin therapy because there is an obvious problem. A relationship has ended. Anxiety has become overwhelming. Family conflict has reached a breaking point. A transition has left them feeling uncertain about what comes next.
Other times, there is no single event to point to.
You may be functioning well from the outside while privately feeling anxious, disconnected, self-critical, or stuck. You may notice yourself repeating the same relationship patterns without fully understanding why. Maybe you know that experiences from childhood continue to affect you, but you are not sure how to move beyond simply recognizing that they happened.
This is often where Sarah’s work begins.
Rather than focusing only on reducing the symptom in front of you, Sarah helps clients become curious about what might be underneath it.
Why does this particular situation make me so anxious?
Why do I keep responding this way in relationships?
Why is it so difficult to trust myself?
Why do I feel responsible for everyone else’s emotions?
Why does this transition feel so much bigger than I expected?
Therapy can create room to explore these questions without rushing toward an answer.
A Psychodynamic and Relational Approach to Therapy
Sarah’s approach to therapy is psychodynamic and relational.
Psychodynamic therapy considers how our earlier experiences, family relationships, attachments, and emotional histories continue to influence the way we experience ourselves and our relationships today.
But understanding the past is not about endlessly analyzing childhood.
It is about noticing the threads that connect then and now.
Perhaps conflict in your current relationship activates a familiar fear of rejection. Maybe you learned early on to keep your needs small, and now find it difficult to ask for what you want. You may intellectually understand that you are capable and successful while still carrying an internal sense that you are not quite enough.
Sarah helps clients gently notice these patterns and develop a fuller understanding of how they came to be.
Her work is also relational, which means the relationship between therapist and client matters. Therapy is not something Sarah simply “does” to a client. It is something built collaboratively.
Sarah brings warmth, curiosity, and attention to the therapy relationship itself, creating space for clients to explore experiences that may have previously felt difficult to put into words.
Therapy for Anxiety That Seems to Follow You Everywhere
Anxiety does not always look like panic.
For some people, it looks like constant overthinking. Replaying conversations. Worrying about making the wrong choice. Trying to anticipate what other people need. Feeling unable to relax even when nothing is technically wrong.
For others, anxiety shows up as perfectionism, self-doubt, difficulty making decisions, social anxiety, or an ongoing feeling that something bad might happen.
Sarah works with clients experiencing anxiety and depression in NYC, including people who may have spent years managing their symptoms without understanding their deeper emotional roots.
Together, therapy can become a place to explore not only how to cope with anxiety, but what the anxiety may be communicating.
Healing From Childhood Trauma and Difficult Family Dynamics
Our earliest relationships often shape what feels normal to us long before we have language for it.
Growing up in a family where emotions were dismissed, conflict felt unsafe, expectations were high, or your needs came second can influence everything from self-esteem to relationships in adulthood.
Sarah works with adults healing from childhood trauma, PTSD, complex trauma, and difficult family dynamics.
Trauma therapy does not require forcing yourself to revisit experiences before you are ready. Sarah believes in moving at a pace that feels manageable and building enough safety in the therapeutic relationship for deeper exploration to happen gradually.
For some clients, the work may involve understanding how the past continues to appear in the present. For others, it may mean grieving what they did not receive, developing greater self-compassion, or beginning to relate to themselves differently.
The goal is not to erase your history. It is to have more choice in how much that history gets to shape your life now.
Understanding Your Relationship Patterns
Relationships have a way of bringing our deepest patterns to the surface.
You might find yourself repeatedly drawn to emotionally unavailable partners. You may struggle to voice your needs until resentment builds. Perhaps you become anxious when someone feels distant, or find yourself pulling away when relationships become more emotionally intimate.
Sometimes we recognize these patterns clearly and still cannot seem to change them.
Sarah works with clients who want to better understand their relationship and attachment patterns, including the ways family relationships and earlier experiences may influence how they connect with others today.
Therapy offers an opportunity to slow these patterns down.
Rather than asking, “Why do I keep doing this?” with frustration or judgment, Sarah encourages a different kind of curiosity: “What did this pattern once help me do?”
That shift can open up space for understanding, compassion, and eventually, something new.
Therapy for College Students and Young Adults in NYC
Young adulthood is often described as a period of possibility.
It can also be incredibly disorienting.
College students and young adults may be navigating academic pressure, friendships, dating, family expectations, career uncertainty, identity development, independence, and questions about who they actually want to become, often all at once.
Graduating can bring another unexpected shift. After years of semesters, deadlines, and clearly defined milestones, adulthood suddenly becomes much less structured.
There may be no syllabus telling you what comes next.
Sarah has a particular interest in working with college students, graduate students, and young adults in New York City who are navigating identity, self-esteem, relationships, quarter-life transitions, and the pressure to have adulthood figured out.
Therapy can be a place to step outside of everyone else’s expectations long enough to hear your own voice.
You do not need to arrive knowing exactly what you want. Sometimes figuring that out is part of the work.
What Is Therapy With Sarah Like?
Sarah’s style is warm, thoughtful, and collaborative.
She does not believe therapy needs to follow one predetermined pace. Some clients want to make connections slowly. Others arrive ready to explore something more directly. Sarah works with each client to develop a process that feels responsive to who they are and what they need.
At the center of her approach is curiosity rather than judgment.
Instead of seeing anxiety, avoidance, relationship patterns, or emotional reactions as something that is “wrong” with you, therapy can help you understand how these responses developed and what they may have been trying to protect.
With greater understanding often comes greater choice.
You may begin to notice patterns earlier. Speak to yourself with more compassion. Communicate differently in relationships. Recognize when an old fear is shaping a present-day decision. Or feel more able to make choices based on what matters to you rather than what you have learned you are supposed to do.
About Sarah Sirulnick, LMSW
Sarah earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work from NYU Silver School of Social Work. Her clinical background includes individual and group psychotherapy, as well as experience with clinical interventions for substance use disorders. She is also continuing her training in psychoanalytic theory and practice.
Her work at Holistic Psychotherapy NYC reflects the values that guide our practice: connection, compassion, collaboration, and curiosity about each client’s experience in the broader context of their relationships, history, identities, and environment.
Sarah works with adults experiencing:
- Anxiety and social anxiety
- Depression
- Childhood trauma, PTSD, and complex trauma
- Relationship and attachment concerns
- Difficult family dynamics
- Identity exploration
- Self-esteem
- Emotion regulation
- Life transitions and quarter-life concerns
- College and graduate school stress
- Young adulthood and post-college transitions
- Feeling stuck or disconnected from yourself
Looking for a Therapist in NYC?
If Sarah’s approach resonates with you, you can schedule a free 15-minute consultation with Sarah Sirulnick, LMSW to learn more about working together.
Sarah offers in-person psychotherapy at Holistic Psychotherapy NYC’s Midtown Manhattan office at 315 Madison Avenue, as well as virtual therapy for clients throughout New York State, with weekday and evening availability.
Holistic Psychotherapy NYC is in-network with Aetna and Cigna. We also support clients using out-of-network benefits and offer an honor-based sliding scale to help make therapy more accessible.
Not sure whether Sarah is the right therapist for you? You can also schedule a free therapist matching call with our Intake Coordinator. We will learn more about what you are looking for and help connect you with a therapist whose specialties, approach, and availability align with your needs.
Sometimes the first step in therapy is simply finding someone you feel curious about talking to.
Schedule a free consultation with Sarah to see if working together feels like a good fit.
